NYC Building Energy Grades
Local Law 33 Overview
Get ready to start seeing some new letters posted in building lobbies. Local Law 33 (amended by Local Law 95) requires that eligible buildings larger than 25,000 square feet post Building Energy Efficiency Rating labels by October 31st.
For eligible buildings, a 1-100 ENERGY STAR® score is given based on the energy consumption data and building use details entered in Portfolio Manager as part of benchmarking (Local Law 84) compliance, which corresponds to a letter grade. The letter grade scale (below) was established by The City and is published in the Local Law document.
A = 85 - 100
B = 70 - 84
C = 55 - 69
D = 0 - 54
Buildings with use types that cannot receive ENERGY STAR® scores, or are not required to benchmark, will receive an “N” grade. However, buildings receiving an “N” are not required to post a label. Buildings that did not comply with benchmarking, or experienced an error with their benchmarking submission, will receive an “F” grade that must be posted.
Letter grades “A” through “F” must be posted in a visible location near each public entrance of the building. Please refer to this FAQ document for further details on proper posting. Buildings that do not meet these standards will be subject to a fine of $1,250 per building. Annual labels will be accessible in the DOB NOW portal starting October 1st of each year.
Other questions:
What if I benchmarked my properties as a campus?
All buildings will receive the same grade based on the overall usage and combined property use details, but each building has a unique label that must be posted.
What if my property has more than one BIN (Building Identification Number) associated with it?
Since each BIN should correspond to a distinct building, this should have been benchmarked as a campus. Each BIN will have a unique label, even if the letter grade was assigned at the parent property level.
I received an F grade due to a data quality or other submission error. Will my grade be adjusted?
The DOB does not currently have a plan or timeline for issuing grade adjustments. However, they will revisit grade adjustments in December after the next round of benchmarking submissions has been processed.